World Rehabilitation Fund Inc

Programs: Lebanon: world rehabilitation fund-lebanon received support from the united nations office for coordination of humanitarian affairs (un-ocha) to improve the physical and psycho-social well-being and livelihoods of person with disabilities, who have life-saving needs, among refugees from syria and their peers in lebanese host communities, to improve their protection, livelihoods and social inclusions. The project was for a 7-month period. Wrf has been responding to the urgent need experienced by many of these refugees who have had to flee from the cruel civil war that has ravaged their home country. Lebanon, as a bordering country with syria, has hosted 1. 1 million syrian refugees, who now make up over of the entire countrys population. Thus, lebanon is, by far, the country most impacted by refugees with refugees with jordan being next impacted with refugees,currently making up less than 10% of its total population. Because of the violent conditions that these persons have experienced and the difficulties of migrating to safety, the proportion of the refugee population is much higher than would normally be expected. The project provided direct assistance services in the form of rehabilitation devices and services to 769 persons with disabilities (pwds) in need. These included: 610 refugees (592 syrian refugees, 13 palestine refugees from syria, 4 palestine refugees in lebanon, and one lebanese returnee from syria); 152 from lebanese host communities; and 7 others, mainly iraqi refugees in lebanon. 65 people with amputations were fitted with complete prosthetic devices and received essential rehabilitation aids and physical therapy services, 11 people with existing prostheses that were still functional were provided with component repair/replacement services in addition to rehabilitation aids and physical therapy,147 people with physical deformities and orthopedic impairments were provided with orthotic devices and related physical therapy services and rehabilitation aids,314 persons with visual impairments were fitted with prescription eyeglasses,227 persons with hearing impairments were fitted with hearing aids and they and their caregivers were provided with advice and guidance. Of these, 58 were provided with speech therapy, in addition, 17 persons with hearing impairment were provided with speech therapy sessions. The project had amazing favorable impact on the lives of served persons with disabilities, their caregivers, and their families. It upgraded their protection, expanded their self-reliance, improved their livelihoods and well-being, and decreased their personal, family, and social burden.

bolivia and mexicoworld rehabilitation fund continued its partnership with prosthetika, inc. Of california to provide training and technical assistance to prosthetic/orthotic programs in countries and areas in need of improved services. The aim of these activities is to broaden the access of persons with disabilities to quality services for those suffering limb impairments. In july, wrf provided support for training of technicians and other rehabilitation personnel at the funprobo rehabilitation center in la paz, bolivia. The project entailed the provision of assistance in finding solutions for hard-to-fit amputees, assessing current practices to suggest corrective actions where necessary and to instruct staff on aspects of practice that would improve the delivery of services to patients. The technical assistance team helped with 6 lower limb prosthetic cases, two upper limb cases and two cases for orthotics for children. These cases were identified by staff as presenting particular problems for staff given their knowledge at the time. Two especially difficult cases were a man whose residual limb was so slight that normal prosthetic techniques could not be applied. The solution was through developing a special socket. An 18-month child that was born with a complete absence of a leg required a series of interventions that were initiated by the technical assistance team while the team instructed staff as to how the process over time needed to proceed with close coordination with a physical therapist. The team explored the application of 3d printing methodology to rehabilitate hands of two patients and special techniques for children requiring orthotic devices were demonstrated. In nogales, mexico, wrf supported the prosthetika team to undertake a needs assessment in august 2016 of the arsobo program in nogales. This town is located on the border of new mexico and mexico with parts of the town being in both countries. The project has not previously provided prosthetic/orthotic services but has identified a large number of persons in need. They have obtained much of the equipment that would be needed to support such a program and have the services of three persons who have had training in p&o. The technical assistance team recommended a short-term training protocol that would be best to help the program get underway.

cambodia:in cambodia, wrf supports the artisans association of cambodia (aac), founded by wrf in 2001. Aac continues to thrive as a major organization supporting the development, promotion and marketing of artisan products made by artisans who, for the most part, are from vulnerable backgrounds. In addition to artisans (and support staff) who have disabilities, aac organization employees include widows, aids survivors, victims of human trafficking and others of vulnerable backgrounds. Over 2/3 of these employees are women and approximately 2/3 of the member organizations are directed by women. This year membership in aac grew to 50 members having started with only 4 members groups. The high regard of aac is demonstrated by the fact that this year, artisans dangkor, known internationally as the most prestigious artisan organization in southeast asia, applied and was granted membership. Aac enjoys a close working relationship with the cambodian ministries of commerce and tourism. The number of artisans and support staff employed by member organizations is approximately 4000. Specific assistance provided this year has included the following:a. Training activities: training provided by aac, usually through collaboration with other expert organizations has included three major areas: export marketing, design training and the use of spec sheets. Export marketing- a three-day training program was held in collaboration with cbi of the netherlands and vietcraft. 18 persons from 11 members organizations attended. Special emphasis was placed on how to successfully appeal to the eu market and it was also a preparation for participation in the international trade fair in vietnam. Design training- members were recruited to participate in an 8-months course carried out by fashion design institute of germany. Seven members groups participated in the course which like the export marketing training emphasized appeal to the eu market. Spec sheets- participants from 5 members organizations participated in a special training held for members from the siem reap area. Training focused on how to most effectively use spec sheets to describe products being marketed. B. Technical assistance: aac must respond to specific requests from member organizations on a wide variety of matters involved in the production, design and sale of artisan products. This year the areas covered included use of facebook for marketing, use of photography and video technologies in showing products to potential customers, designing price tags, and how to best use swing tags (i. E. Tags placed on garments with important information for customers). And how to use and design effective business cards. C. Preparation for trade fairs: preparation this year concentrated on international fairs these included:bangkok international trade fair- aac members were provided four booths to the event which were provided by the cambodian ministry of commerce. 14 aac persons from 12 members organizations attended in addition to the four members who were chosen to display their products. Vietnam international trade fair- the fair, located in ho chi minh city was a two-day event. Seven aac members out of 11 who applied, were selected for participation. Bangkok furniture fair- four aac members who work with furniture participated in this annual event. Some 11 members organizations in aac directly support youth to become artisans or assist in the craft business. Aac also works with its members to use methods and materials that are eco-friendly so that members are involved in the protection of the cambodian environment. Some 4000 cambodians, most of whom were from disadvantaged backgrounds, are employed by member organizations of aac. Training and technical assistance has enabled these groups to succeed in realizing sales of some $4,250,000 in sales of artisan products (not including sales by artisans dangkor). This is an increase of approximately $250,000 from the previous year.